[jeroenhd]

My phone has an IR blaster and it's pretty good for controlling just about any device as long as support software is there. The interface on my phone is also a lot clearer than the weird plastic remote that came with the office AC. The device is a Xiaomi and this has the downside of the IR database mostly consisting of Chinese products.

It's a shame to see how the IR blaster has disappeared from phones, just like the FM radio functionality that the SoC probably still has support for. Only weird, cheap, and very Chinese phones still seem to sport these features.

[BugWatch]

Hm, IIRC if you still have an (ideally forward-facing) headphone jack, I believe there were cheap plug-ins (essentially IR LED on a 3.5 mm connector) that would provide the functionality given a proper software.

[jeroenhd]

True, but audio jacks are hard to find in anything above a midrange phone these days.

You're also often limited to the app provided by the manufacturer of the 3.5mm dongle, which isn't always great.